Tightening and fastening means for casing covers



May 20, 1952 F. s. CRAIG TIGHTENING AND FASTENING MEANS FOR CASING COVERS Filed oct. 26, 1949 Imi d n n .HE

hasp wrench I6 is provided with the usual elongated hole IB near one end so located as to flt over the staple I while the other end is provided with an opening which is hex shaped at its upper half and circular shaped at its lower half. The hex shaped part I9 of this latter opening is adapted to engage the hex nut I1 in much the same manner as a wrench while the circular shaped part of this opening is of such a diameter that it can t loosely over, and not engage, the hex nut II. when the hasp Wrench I6 is turned thereon. The hex nut I1 is provided at one end with a circular collar 2| of a diameter larger than the opening 20 in the hasp wrench I 6. WhenV assembling this fastening and tightening means, the hasp wrench I6 is placed over the nut I'I with the opening 20 encircling the hex nut I1. The nut I1 is then turned part way by hand on the threaded end Il of the latch member IIJ which projects through the enlarged hole I2 in the door 2, thus positioning the hasp Wrench I6 on the collared hex nut I'I between the circular collar 2| and the door 2, in which position it will remain so long as the nut Il is not removed from the latch member I 6.

With the various parts in the assembled position just described (as shown in Fig. 3), the door 2 may be latched or unlatched without the necessity of removing the nut I'I and hasp wrench I6 from the latch member II), these three parts remaining attached to the door 2 at all times after intial assembly. Assuming the door 2 to be in its opened position and it is desired to close up the casing, the door 2 is swung on its hinge pins 3 until the latch member I0 enters the housing I and the hook end I3 of the latch member I0 butts against the end of the latch bracket ti. The latch member I0, being loosely mounted in the enlarged hole I2 in the door 2, Ymay be pushed inwardly and downwardly against the bias of the ilat spring I4 until the hook end I3 of this latch member I0 enters the opening 9 in the latch bracket 8, thereby latching the door 2 closed, as shown in Fig. 3.

As the hasp wrench I6 is already in engagement with the nut I'I, the hex shaped part I9 of the opening fitting over the hex shaped part of the nut Il, it is only necessary to turn the hasp wrench I6 in a clockwise direction to screw up the nut Il against the door 2 and compress the gasket 5 against the edge of the opening in the housing I until the door is securely sealed shut. The hasp wrench I6 is formed with a slight bend at 22 so that when turned it will clear the staple I5 which protrudes from the door 2.

It is obvious that when the door 2 is tightened down as described above, the hasp wrench I6 may be lying in any position up to 180 degrees away from its locking position, that is, a position wherein the elongated hole I8 is lined up to t over the staple I5. If such is the case, the hasp wrench I6 is moved ahead laterally so that the hex part I9 of the opening disengages the hex nut Il. and the circular part 26 of the opening now encircles the hex nut I'I. The hasp wrench I6 may now be turned freely on the nut I7 to its locking position or to the point nearest to its locking position wherein the hex part i9 of the opening can again engage the hex nut Il. If necessary, further movement of the hasp wrench I6, which will always be less than 60 degrees, can be made to further compress the gasket 5 and bring the hasp wrench I6 into a locking position. When in this locking position, the hasp wrench I6 will liel flat against the door 2 and a padlock 23 may be inserted through the staple I5 to lock the door, as shown in Fig. 1. With the padlock 23 in place, it will be observed that the hasp wrench I6 is restricted from all further movement and the nut I'I cannot be turned, as it is in engagement with the hex part I 9 of the opening in the hasp wrench I6. Thus, a tamper proof locking arrangement is provided as well as an adjustable tightening means.

When an authorized person desires to open the door 2, the padlock 23 is removed and the nut II is backed off the threaded portion II of the latch member I6 by turning the hasp wrench I6 in a counterclockwise direction until the nut Il reached a position approximately as shown in Fig. 3. The latch member I6 is then pressed inwardly and downwardly against the bias of the flat spring I4 until the hook I3 disengages from the latch bracket 8, whereupon the door 2 may be swung open on its hinge pins 3.

As previously mentioned, when the gasket 5 is new, it is quite pliable and resilient which would cause it to allow a considerable amount of compressive movement. In prior organizations, this amount of compressive movement is used up quickly over a relatively short period of time since each adjustment or compensation for Wear and loss of resiliency by the fastening means is a relatively large increment of the total available movement; whereas, the organization of the present invention provides means for adjustment by relatively small increments which prolongs the useful life of the gasket in its early stages of compression in addition to providing the facility in adjustment and reliability of the seal under conditions of substantially complete compression of the gasket, as previously explained.

Although the invention has been described and shown in connection with the use of a hexagon shaped tightening nut, it should be understood that an cctagon shaped nut or a nut with still more ilat sides could be used if it is desired to make the degree of adjustment still finer. Furthermore, the invention has been illustrated as being applied to a mechanism casing as shown and described in the above mentioned Patent No. 2,239,336 with the idea in mind to show and point out the apparent improvements, but it should be understood that the invention could be applied to other types of housings and also be used for other purposes, Without in any way departing from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A tightening and locking means for casing covers comprising, a collared nut and hasp wrench combination threaded on a fastening member protruding through the casing cover, a resilient gasket positioned between the casing and said cover, a first elongated hole in the hasp wrench so shaped that one end of such hole conforms to the shape of the nut while the other end is circular shaped and large enough to turn freely over the nut, a collar on the outside end of the nutito maintain the hasp wrench assembled to the nut, whereby the hasp wrench may be moved into and out of engagement with the nut at will during the interval of turning the nut down against the cover, so that, with the cover tightened down and the gasket fully compressed, a second elongated hole in the hasp wrench will line up over a staple in the locking position and said rst elongated hole will engage said collared nut at said one end.

2.V A fastening organization for housing mechanisms comprising, a casing with a hinged door and a resilient gasket there-between, a latching member extending through an enlarged hole in the door and being spring biased to a particular position, said latching member having a hooked end Within the housing for engaging a latch bracket when in its biased position, said latching member being threaded at its other end which extends outside of the housing door, a collared nut threaded onto said latch member on the outside of the door, a hasp wrench mounted over said collared nut, said hasp Wrench having an elongated hole at its wrench end so shaped that the outside end of such hole conforms to the shape of the collared nut while the inside end of such hole is circular shaped and large enough to allow the hasp wrench to freely turn about said nut as an axis, a collar on the outside of said nut to maintain the hasp wrench assembled therewith, a staple mounted on said cover, a slot in the free end of such hasp wrench, whereby the hasp wrench may be used to tighten said collared nut to press said cover against the housing and compress said resilient gasket, and whereby said hasp wrench may be freely moved about said nut until it can fit over said nut in the nearest position which will allow said hasp wrench to be brought into alignment with said staple and thereby allow such staple to pass through said slot and cause said collared nut to be locked in its tightened position, said'hasp wrench having its free end bent at an angle with respect to its wrench end to permit its clearance of said staple during the tightening of said collared nut.

FRANK S'. CRAIG.

EEFERENSES CTED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 150,180 Morris Apr. 28, 1874 20 1,208,236 Thompson et al. Dec. 12, 1916 1,661,868 Armstrong et al. Mar. 6, 1928 2,239,336 Moore Apr. 22, 1941 

